22 April – International Mother Earth Day

International Mother Earth Day is celebrated annually on 22 April in order to draw the attention of the whole society to the need to preserve natural resources. The Earth Day initiative was launched in 1970 in the United States, where the third week of April was declared „Earth Week“. This holiday was generally accepted in 1992, but it was not adopted at the General Assembly of the United Nations until 2009.
This year's message on the occasion of the Day of our planet reads „Restore our Earth“ and indicates the need for joint activities that contribute to the protection of the environment.

The Institute for Standardization of Serbia cooperates with the Association 3e from Belgrade, with which it has realized several seminars on wastewater management, which include regulations in this area, methods of analysis of pollutants and wastewater treatment plants. Association 3e is involved in the current project of cleaning the Danube and its tributaries, implemented by the German environmental company Everwave (https://www.udruzenje3e.org/post/misija-%C4%8Di%C5%A1%C4%87enja-dunava.). Waste from the river is collected by special boats, which record data on the location and composition of waste, and then sent for recycling. In that way, the pollution of the sea and the ocean is prevented, the costs are reduced, as well as the environmental awareness of the general public is strengthened.

The standards provide guidelines and tools for managing environmental responsibilities. NTC A207, Environmental Management Systems develops and adopts Serbian standards in this area. With the help of the SPRS ISO 14000 series of standards, companies and organizations of any kind can improve their environmental performance. ISS has also published an electronic collection of Serbian standards in the field of environmental protection: https://iss.rs/sr_Cyrl/sistemi-menadzhmenta-zhivotnom-sredinom-3-izdanje_p859.html.

Also, NTC Z183, Characterization and Waste Management has recently expanded the scope to circular economy, which is gaining in importance.